page_title: Park51
section_title: Before 2001
hierarchical_section_title: Park51 / History / Site use / Before 2001
caption_attribution_description: 45 Park Place (Manhattan)
context_page_description: Park51 is a development that was originally envisioned as a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The developers hoped to promote an interfaith dialogue within the greater community. Due to its proposed location two blocks from the World Trade Center site of the September 11 attacks which were perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda, the proposed building was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque".
  The project would replace an existing 1850s building of Italianate style that was damaged in the September 11 attacks. The original design was by Michel Abboud, principal of SOMA Architects, who wrestled for months with the challenge of making the building fit naturally into its lower Manhattan surroundings: on the one hand, it should have a contemporary design, and, at the same time, it should look Islamic. His design included a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare area, bookstore, culinary school, art studio, food court, and memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks.
context_section_description: 45–47 Park Place was constructed between 1857 and 1858, in the Palazzo style architecture.
  The stone-faced building, designed by Daniel D. Badger, was originally constructed for a shipping firm of a prominent New York shipping magnate. Its Italian palazzo style was a throwback to a prior time of European grandeur, and was intended to evoke images of economic might. The building is an example of the "store and loft" structures that were prevalent in the dry goods warehouse districts of Lower Manhattan.
  The building was one of only a few stand-alone structures in southern Tribeca that were nominated – but never designated – as individual landmarks, during an effort in the 1980s to create a Tribeca historic district. In September 1989, the Commission had held public hearings and considered the building for landmark status, but it never acted on the matter, and the building was "calendared" ever since. By August 2010, city building records reflected that out of a group of 29 buildings that had been proposed for historic landmark designation in 1989, including 45–47 Park Place, twenty-three had been deemed landmarks and six were pending. The pending applications included 45–47 Park Place. At that point, New York City had more than 11,000 landmarked buildings.
  Muslims had a presence in Lower Manhattan for many years prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks. At least two mosques existed near the World Trade Center, and several designated Muslim prayer rooms existed within the World Trade Center buildings.
caption: Slogans drawn by supporters on the pavement in front of the former Burlington Coat Factory, in 2010
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon DIGITAL IXUS 870 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.6.4", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:28 23:40:44", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.8", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "646", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4880", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:08:28 13:18:45", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:08:28 13:18:45", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "213/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area"}